Dehradun, Nov. 28 -- Uttarakhand irrigation minister Satpal Maharaj on Thursday urged the Centre to allocate Yamuna water to the state in proportion to its availability, citing growing migration from hill districts and declining productivity of cash crops due to inadequate irrigation facilities. Speaking at the 9th Review Committee meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) in Noida, chaired by Union Jal Shakti minister CR Patil, Maharaj said the current allocation to Uttarakhand is about 32% less than its assessed requirement, despite the state having become a full member of the board after its creation in 2000. The review meeting, organised by the Union Ministry of Water Resources, discussed water sharing, river pollution, storage levels and inter-state issues related to the Yamuna basin. Maharaj said that under the May 12, 1994 agreement on Yamuna water sharing among Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi, Uttar Pradesh was allocated 4.032 BCM (billion cubic metres) of water. Post-bifurcation in 2000, Uttarakhand became the sixth member of the board, but water-sharing negotiations with Uttar Pradesh remained inconclusive, leaving Uttarakhand with an inadequate share, he said. The minister added that Uttarakhand would also face downstream ecological and social impacts from the proposed reservoirs under the Lakhwar and Kishau multipurpose projects. "In such a situation, the MoU of May 12, 1994 must be revisited, and water should be allocated to Uttarakhand proportionate to the availability in the Yamuna," he said. He also flagged the rising pollution load in the river and sought stricter measures to curb industrial discharge from Haryana....